(Gund $34.90) Kissy the Penguin is a hefty 12” plush penguin. Though she’s soft to the touch, she’s not the cuddly type. Since she’s an animated toy, she pretty much sits in one place but she’s animated and quite a sweet talker. Pinch one flapper foot and Kissy says, “Hello Baby, show me how you blow kisses” as she lifts her flapper wings and blows a kiss to baby. Now pinch the flapper foot with musical notes and Kissy will sing "Blowing Kisses" while wiggling her wings and b

(Gamewright $17.99) Play this fun and fuzzy game cooperatively or competitively. It's really a race between a fox that's chasing after a hedge hog that's heading for home. Players collect goodies to get hedgehog through the maze, moving hedge hog to the goodies on the path, while moving fox only as many spaces as the goodies collected. But how do you get the goodies? That's the fun part. You roll a small fuzzy velcro-like ball over the goodie playing pieces. We think older p

(Mudpuppy $14.99) Three 100-piece puzzles are in this Science Puzzle Set. The images of the food chain may be a bit much for some, even if they are scientific. One features a bear eating a fox, eating a rabbit; another features a jaguar, eating a toucan, eating a frog, eating a bug; the third one features an orca eating a leopard seal eating a penguin. This is really a three-hundred-piece puzzle divided up into three images. Challenging. Marked 6 and up. We'd say that depends

(Mudpuppy $14.95) Twenty colorful sea creatures, made of soft foam that will stick to tub and tile when wet. These are relatively smallish and not for babies and toddlers. A better choice for kids who don't mouth their toys. Fun for language building as well as pretend play. Also a playful means for getting reluctant bathers into the water. They come in a handy mesh bag with suction cups for storing them till it’s tub time again. Marked 3 and up . Ages: Preschoolers Oppenhe

(Gund/Spinmaster $80) We’re always on the lookout for basic gear and a playmat for infants is one of those basics that gives baby a new environment with changeable activities to gaze at, reach out and touch, kick and explore with all his senses. It’s easy to set up, thick enough to be comfortable, patterns for eye interest and several extras for varied sensory explorations. Gund’s Tinkle, Crinkle Caterpillar, in bright colors, interesting textures, and sounds is sewn on one e

(Gamewright $17.99) Put the nine mystical tiles in a grid and take turns flipping the two sided tiles or rearrange them so that they will match the patterned cards in your hand. Players use some of their cards on their turn to rearrange the tiles to match one of their other cards when their next turn comes up. Each card has a point value and the object is to be the first to collect the required number of cards and then count up their score value. Once you understand how to pl

(Big G Creative $13.99) We think this is going to be a party time favorite for team play. One member of the team is the Mega Mouth leader who draws a card and announces the category of the words she will be saying. She holds the big plastic magnifier in front of her mouth and silently, without speaking out loud or even whispering, she reads the words on the card. Her teammates must read her lips and say the words. Each player that guesses a word gets a token. The winning t

(Peaceable Kingdom $17.95) In this cooperative game, players race against the game to win tickets to the Magic Show before all the Magician's props are on the stage. Spin the spinner and draw a card that will tell you to put a prop on the stage or to hop ahead or If you're lucky—to draw a ticket card and put it on a seat! Four seats have to be filled before the magician has all the props. It's matching, taking turns, simple counting, and there's even a hat trick. Most of all

(Big G Creative $9.99) Ahoy, my good matey! You've heard of pre-primers books used for beginning readers? You might call this a pre-poker playing game that calls for a bit of luck and a lot of bluffing. Players toss the bone-shaped dice with pirate symbols rather than dots. If the symbols match the player's card all the other players must give her a bit of their gold coin bounty. If another player has a card that matches he can tell the others to give him their bounty....OR